Chains Of Pride

"Everything that you say makes me violently ill, and yet here I am making a sacrifice and not giving a damn. The least you can do is do the same and shut up." Takeshi verbally knocked the shit out of Gero before he laid his last order.

"Get to the Medic Ward, the injuries will inevitably heal given enough time, but the extra help will speed it up and save the same, which we need."

He then gestured for them to leave which they didn't hesitate to do so. They didn't hate the Shepherd, well, except Gero, but they didn't like him either, like Gero. Under these conditions, leaving didn't sound so bad, besides they were a bit banged up so getting some help was probably for the best.

He saw them off with his eyes and released a long drawn out sigh when they finally left. His usual habit of rubbing the bridge of his nose took hold as he thought about what he saw today.

"Those three boys are gonna be the key to many things that are locked away, so hurry up and fulfil your potential, show me that my eyesight is still good."

He got up and left, probably to wash the grime of the day away and probably get something to eat after.

…

"Minayatsu Ayuki, Tamashi is finally stabilised we don't have to worry about any life-threatening flare-ups from now on." Wang Yin replied. Wang Yin was the same Digium that Takeshi had charged to take care of the fool Phoolesh Akiru and his band of idiots.

"I'm aware, make sure to call the veiling department to expect a new arrival. We need to take care of those burns, the longer they're there, the harder it is for the veiling team to take care of it." Ayuki replied.

"What do we do about the rest of the Engage competitors Lady Ayuki?" Another one of the healers asked.

"They're good, they only suffered from broken bones and multiple fractures. They're still undergoing treatment for those, but a few more days and they'll be good to go." She answered.

Ayuki was still looking through the clipboard she held with an expressionless demeanour. She was scrolling through the list and was relieved to see that all the red alerts that peppered the list were now a safe blue.

She tapped on Tamashi's name once more and could see the Captain's stable vitals displayed on the clipboard's screen.

"At least foreign Captain's really safe, what happened a few days ago was really unexpected." Ayuki was thinking to herself about the ending of the Engage Sequence that same day, her face as impassive as ever.

"Aw, I can't believe the Life Fairy is really here tending to the patients with us."

"I know right? It's a dream to see her at her craft."

"She's barely got any sleep the last few days and yet she's still going strong, we can't compare."

"And she's so beautiful to boot, she really is like a Fairy, she never smiles though does she?"

"Or pout, frown or show much of any emotion, nothing really moves her I guess, but to me, that's a unique beauty in itself."

A couple of healers in the Medic Ward were all commenting about Ayuki amongst themselves. They rarely got any chance to see her, so this was a blessing for them. She was practically a celebrity in the medical world.

Suddenly, her face perked up in a specific direction. With the clipboard in hand, she wordlessly walked to the entrance of the building to see who was arriving, and sure enough, her instincts were spot on.

Injured people on the horizon, three people to be specific were heading to the Medic Ward.

"I'll never figure out how she does that."

"Yeah, it's like she can sense people who are wounded, it's incredible. I wonder what rank she is, I heard rumours that she might be an S-Class."

"You'll have to take off her lab coat first, if she's not wearing an A-Class uniform then it's confirmed. Because she's definitely not below A-Class."

"Ah, I don't have the guts to take off her lab coat. I'll just admire her from a distance haha," one healer answered, blushing with his hand behind his head.

The healers had followed after her when they saw that she had left earlier, like a pack of puppies (but nowhere near adorable). However, when they saw who it was that was coming, their expressions changed. Some were of derision, others wore disdain, a mix of contempt, despisal, even blatant hate could be seen.

"Did someone inform them that we were coming, what's up with the welcoming party?" Lanzo was a bit confused at the group gathering in front.

"Doesn't matter, we just need to get in, get out and be done with it, my hate for people's flaring up again," Gero stated with an obviously annoyed scowl.

"Same here, we just need to fini-" Kia's response was cut short when he caught sight of Ayuki.

Gero, noticing the unfinished sentence, passed him a quick glance and then raised him an eyebrow after he followed his line of sight.

"Well, this is…interesting," Gero thought to himself, but he did not say anything.

When they finally arrived in front of the crowd. Gero's tolerance took a huge dive when he saw they weren't moving.

"What, do we need a written invitation to come to the Medic Ward or do we need to be bleeding out dying and/or dead before we're accepted?" Gero's sarcasm dropped harder than his jaw when he saw a Blite for the first time.

"Cloud-King Gero, I've long heard of your arrogance but now I've seen it for myself." A healer by the name of Dulast J'erch commented with a scowl on his face.

"Oh look, a side character that decided to speak, congratulations, maybe I'll remember your name." Gero shot back.

"You!" Obviously, J'erch was livid at his insult.

Kia waited for J'erch to finish but heard nothing after the first word, "You what? Is that it? If this place is filled with people who can't compile a comeback or even a basic sentence, I don't think I'd want my treatment to be done here."

Another healer chimed in after Kia said this, "Oh and look here, the Red Creep is injured too. What happened, did you jump off from the height of your ego?"

"Oh wow, did you think of that yourself? Probably not, I'm pretty sure you'd be dead if you jumped from your ego to your IQ." Kia's reply caused a bevvy of insults to hammer in his direction which caused not a change in his expression.

"You need medical care, come with me," the melodic voice of Ayuki drifted over, and like a soothing balm, it cooled down the rash filled a.s.s that was this conversation.

When Ayuki spoke, nobody rebutted, no one dared to complain out loud. She nimbly spun on her heels and turned around, leading Kia, Gero and Lanzo inside to receive treatment.

All healers were still left in something of a stupor and only recovered when another random Digium came for treatment and waved his hand in their faces before heading in.

"Ugh! That Red Creep and that stupid Cloud-King Gero, how dare they get close to the Life Fairy."

"I dunno, but pfft, that ego to IQ thing was pretty funny though," another said.

"Whose side are you on? C'mon everyone, let's go we can't allow those two to profane her."

Of course, their feelings for Lanzo were the same, but they didn't dare to act in any way untowards him. He had access to more money and more importantly, power than they did, so they just ignored him in their grillings and directed it all to Gero and Kia.

After some time, they arrived at the section where the three were being treated, before they stepped in, however, Ayuki appeared before them, and with an apathetic mien she said, "I'm sorry, I'll need silence so I'll take it from here, please see to the other patients."

Her angelic voice sounded out once more before she brutally shut the door to keep them out.

"That's cold…" One of the healers said dejectedly before leaving, shortly followed by the others.

"Now that there are some peace and quiet, Yang Min please take a look at the big one. Berachi Nuwek, take a look at the one with the eternal scowl on his face, I'll look after the one with the red hair." Ayuki gave her orders to the three healers she knew didn't really engage in gossip and wouldn't care about reputation, only doing their jobs.

She was rather aloof and didn't bother much with what went on in the academy, hence her odd descriptions as opposed to name for the three boys.

Ayuki took Kia to one of the other rooms and left the others to their own devices.

"Stay still…" Ayuki took a hand-held body analyzer to scan and find out Kia's current condition.

Kia was at a bit of a loss, he felt something odd with this girl, but he didn't know what to say or how to say it. For the first time in a long time, he was speechless.

When she was finished she gestured for him to lie back down on the bed that was provided.

After she saw the readings, she thought to herself for a moment before she asked him.

"Why is your hair so red?"

"Uh?" This question kind caught Kia off-guard. He was at a loss for a moment, and didn't know how to respond, there were times when others saw his hair and thought he dyed it red. Others that found it was real, looked at him as if he was weird. Humans were fickle like that.

As a result, he always expected the worst but hoped for the best. Best way to approach it he guessed, "I-It's because of my family line, " He answered.

"Oh, it's really pretty," she commented expressionlessly.

"O-Oh!" Kia said with a shock and a bit of blush, but then he finished it off with, "Thank you," Kia answered

She examined for a moment, before another question left her with no change to her expression, "Do you like me?"

"Eh…?"